Professional Organisations

For me these are really CILIP and School Library Association. I find it difficult to write about CILIP which is supposed to be the organisation representing all Librarians. It seems to be an organisation determined to include everyone, and I think this is eventually going to be a problem. Chartering is now available to anyone who seems to have the loosest connection with libraries, they like you to have a degree level qualification but do not insist on it. Is this really good for a 'profession'? Or should CILIP welcome everyone? After all chartership is about how you do your job, it is not a qualification. Maybe of equal importance would be to try and get some uniformity of qualifications for jobs, rather than for chartership? Unfortunately CILIP has no influence in this area so many schools employ often a cheaper option, even if unqualified or unchartered. Budgets are all, although one wonders would they be equally happy to employ unqualified teachers? Maybe they would. This does not mean that CILIP is not staffed by dedicated and hard working individuals who I know give up a huge amount of time campaigning and advocating for the professional they represent and I think their voice is being heard more but sadly maybe not listened to.

The School Library Association seems a far more useful organisation and it is far more relevant to my needs. This is the one I would pay for if my employer didn't, I guess part of my enthusiasm for it is in the name - it is for school librarians, and so what they do is relevant to me: the jobs, the resources, the info, everything has something to do with my job. It is much better value for money, more responsive, to my day to day needs and their web site much more user friendly. However, it has a different role to CILIP which must be acknowledged although the SLA also campaigns and advocated for Librarians and provides courses and the ever popular weekend conference, it is CILIP that can confer the status of Chartered.